


Fireproof

by shyesplease



Category: Life with Derek
Genre: F/M, college fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-04-02 21:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4073929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyesplease/pseuds/shyesplease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was fireproof, her plan, that is. Or at least it was supposed to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Lizzie woke up with a sudden jolt; it inevitably broke her away from her slumber. Turning over in her bed, she glanced at the alarm clock on her dresser to read the time as 2:11 a.m. She groaned at the ungodly time, however the sudden vibrations of the action made her realize her throat was desert dry.

Needing a drink, she crept out of her room and towards the staircase to go to the kitchen. Though half-way in her pursuit, Lizzie finally noticed in her sleepy daze that the living room lights were still on and that the television was still running. She gruffed in annoyance as she began to stalk determinately down the stairs to turn off everything. Being noisy be damned. She couldn't believe the _nerve_ of this family and their inability to conserve energy!

But once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she caught the sight of dark, tussled locks sitting in the arm chair. "Derek?" Lizzie called out as best as she could muster as she stepped off the last step. She waited a moment in patient silence, but he never made a sound.

Lizzie rolled her eyes as she walked over to his chair, thinking to herself that he probably fell asleep. Reaching over to retrieve the remote to shut the set off, she jumped back in surprise when she found Derek not asleep but wide-awake.

"Derek?" she tried again, but he still didn't answer. His eyes were glazed and unfocused. His hair was more disheveled than it usually was, like he had been wringing his fingers through his hair over and over again. He didn't budge either. He didn't even look like he knew she was there, standing right next to him.

"Derek!" she called harshly, but still low enough not to wake anyone in the house, though the act felt like someone grazed her throat with sandpaper. When he still didn't acknowledge her, she shook his arm roughly for good measure.

He hummed out a response, before he slowly turned his head to her. Confusion swept blatantly across his face. "Liz? What are you doing up?"

Lizzie crossed her arms in irritation. "I should be asking _you_ that question. Wasting all this electricity for-" she paused to look at what was playing on the television screen, "-water polo? Really, Derek?"

Derek's eyebrows rose comically in surprise. "Huh? I was watching -" but he cut himself off when he too looked at the screen. "Oh...it must have ended..."

Lizzie mockingly snorted. "Evidently," she snarled. Derek glared. "Well, you _were_ pretty out it," Lizzie regarded, taking a tentative seat on the arm of the couch. "Why _were_ you so spaced out anyway?"

Derek's eyes grew dark and his glare deepened to the point that numerous wrinkles were now displayed on his forehead. "One: I don't space - that's Casey's specialty. Two: Even if I was - which I wasn't - it's none of your business!" he practically growled out.

Lizzie rolled her eyes at her stepbrother's stubbornness. "Whatever. Either way, I know you were thinking about something. The question now is: what?"

"I was just thinking about university, alright?!" Derek barked, "You satisfied?"

Lizzie cool demeanor didn't shift; she wasn't afraid of Derek like Edwin. "And just what about university had you _so_ deep in thought? Because I don't think I've ever seen you think that hard," Lizzie pointed out.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Derek sarcastically laughed, "very funny. Now go away." He quickly snatched the remote from Lizzie's hands and began switching the channels for something better to watch.

"You know you can tell me whatever is on your mind," Lizzie politely offered. "People say I'm a really good person to talk to…"

"There's nothing to talk about," Derek insisted hastily, never taking his eyes off the television, though Lizzie saw him shift in his seat a bit uncomfortably.

Sighing, Lizzie decided to stop trying. Clearly Derek was not going to talk about whatever was bothering him.

She got up, making her way to her original destination to get that much needed glass of water. Gulping down half of the cold liquid, Lizzie instantly felt better. She soon finished up her glass and made her way back to the living room to head back up the stairs.

As Lizzie reached the first step towards the landing, Derek spoke. "Is she going?"

Lizzie paused in her actions and swiftly turned around to face Derek, who still hadn't moved from his place on his recliner. Lizzie took a moment to process what her oldest step-brother had just said, but suddenly she realized exactly what he was talking about and whom.

The younger McDonald took that first step off the stairs and walked over to the couch to sit. "I don't know," she answered. " _She_ still doesn't know."

Derek looked wretchedly thoughtful. "But she likes school, right?" he whispered into the air, as if they were sharing a secret. Knowing Derek, maybe he was.

"You know she likes school," Lizzie answered, chuckling lightly at her sister's inane passion for school.

Lizzie saw Derek's lips turn into a bitter but fond smile. "But not as much as dance…" he commented sadly, twiddling his thumbs together like a petulant child.

Lizzie frowned but stayed silent since she didn't know what to say. A silence hung over them; the low volume of a late-night talk show was the only noise to their ears.

"Dance – dance is unpredictable," he began a few moments later. "She could jump and twist a wrong way and dance could be over. But with school, school is where she really excels. I have - I mean, _school_ has always been there for her…"

Lizzie suddenly grasped they weren't really talking about school or dance, at least not fully. " _Derek_ ," she breathed out softly.

Derek shoved his hands into his hair as he rested his elbows on his knees. "I'm going insane, Liz," he quietly admitted.

"You don't want her to go," she asked, but it came out more as a statement. Lizzie knew Derek wouldn't want Casey to go, despite all the fighting the two had done over the years. The two had practically been inseparable this summer, but Lizzie also knew Derek cared about Casey, and not in the same manner that he cared about the rest of the people in the household.

"Of course I don't want her to go!" Derek quietly groaned, pulling at his hair.

"Then why don't you tell her that!" Lizzie exclaimed gently.

For the first time since they began talking, Derek turned his head to look directly into her eyes. Lizzie could clearly see the sadness and anguish swimming in his muddy orbs. He laughed an empty laugh. "If I ask her to stay, she'll go."

"You don't know that."

He shook his head. "She never listens to me. You've heard her. If I ask her to do something she does the opposite. So if I ask her to stay, she'll go."

"Then ask her to leave," Lizzie simply offered.

"But then what if she listens," Derek whispered wretchedly. "I can't take that chance…"

"What if you tell her-" Lizzie began, but Derek interrupted her.

"Tell her what?" Derek demanded lightly. "Tell her my f-f-feelings?"

Lizzie nodded timidly.

"I can see that going _so_ well," he sarcastically quipped, chuckling mirthlessly. "Yeah, hi, Casey. I know I'm Derek, the stepbrother that made your life a living hell since you walked into this house, but I'm in love with you. And I'm going to be an even more selfish bastard than I usually am and ask you to not go to New York, even though it's your dream, because I'll miss you."

Lizzie gasped at his confession. Surprised not by his feelings but by the abruptness of his admission.

"I told her before that I would never mess with her dream," he said, somewhat regrettably. "So if she stays, it should be because _she_ wants to, not because _I_ want her to."

The younger McDonald now had a much deeper respect for her step-brother than she thought she would ever have. He really had matured over the years. And he must really love and care for her sister if he was willing to make the sacrifice of losing her, so she could pursue her dream.

Derek began to watch the TV and Lizzie thought their little heart to heart had reached its close. Just as she was about to get up from the couch, Derek spoke up again.

"I had almost given up on it," Derek admitted. "She had applied to all these uppity up schools that I could never get a glimpse of, let alone attend. Of course I applied to them all too just for kicks, but I never thought I'd actually get accepted to any of them…" he lamented.

Lizzie stayed mute, knowing Derek needed to get these things off his chest without interruption.

"Casey got her acceptance letter the day before mine. I had listened to her through the vent, rattling to Emily over the phone about Queen's accepting her and that she was definitely going to go there. I had resigned myself at that point that we'd be going separate ways, whether I liked it or not. But then…" Derek said, trailing off. He swallowed down heavy emotion. "Then I got _my_ acceptance letter and I thought someone was pranking me!" he said, chuckling at himself.

"I just kept reading the acceptance over and over and over again and feeling it, making sure it was real because, honestly, what were the odds?" Derek asked, shaking his head in amazement. "Things were clicking in place and it just felt like that fate crap Casey is always rambling on about and…"

Derek chuckled over a laugh, obviously remembering something. "Then this summer we were looking at catalogs and talking about the campus and in our roundabout ways we were making plans to still see each other during the semester. I was actually excited for school to start!"

Lizzie had to giggle at that. Hearing her laughter, Derek turned to her and smirked her way.

"Everything was going so well. To the point that I thought that maybe, just maybe, at Queen's something could happen between us…" he continued, smiling wistfully as he trailed off. "Then of course we went to your grandmother's and it all turned to shit. With _Jesse_ ," he said, spatting out the name of the other guy, "and getting that opportunity to dance in New York…how - how can I compete with that?"

Lizzie wanted to reassure Derek, but she had no idea what Casey was going to do. One day she was set to go to New York, but the next she'd want to go to Queen's. Knowing Casey, Lizzie had a good feeling that her sister held some feelings for Derek. But because Lizzie knew Casey, she also knew that Casey was most likely denying it all. She didn't want to get Derek's hopes up just for Casey to crush them.

Derek abruptly got up from his recliner. "All this sappy crap has wiped me out," he weakly joked. Lizzie cracked a smile, but there was a hint of pity in her eyes, and she knew Derek saw it too. "I'm gonna head up to my room," he told her, making his way to the staircase.

Lizzie watched him, and as he reached the landing he turned to face her. "This conversation never happened," he tried to warn lightheartedly, but his eyes were too serious and frightful.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lizzie replied, flashing him a knowing grin.

He smiled back appreciatively, mouthing a 'thanks' before he walked all the way up the stairs and out of her sight.


	2. Chapter 1

**ONE YEAR LATER**

Taking out the last object from the moving box and putting it into an appropriate place, Casey was finally and officially moved into her new apartment in Kingston.

Sighing, Casey took a seat on the couch in her little living area, relieved that she didn't have any more boxes to unload anymore. It had only been a few days since she left New York, but those few days had been exclusively dedicated to getting everything out of the moving boxes and buying other proper essentials that she needed for her place.

Eyeing the space, Casey smiled in approval. It was everything she had ever imagined for her first place (albeit, a place paid for by her father). Everything inside was relatively new, but the style throughout was still considerably old-fashioned, which she loved. Plus, she was so happy that she didn't have to worry about the distractions a dorm or roommates might cause towards her studies.

Laying her head back onto the couch, Casey let her mind wander back to New York. She had stayed with her father the whole year she had danced for Bernard Blue. She was so happy that she got to spend some quality time with her father at last, at least when both their schedules coincided.

She had been very busy in New York. Which wasn't a bad thing, for reasons. Her dance schedule was demanding and so was the actual dancing. Although daunting, the hard, exhausting work had been worth the adrenaline she achieved once she stepped out on stage under the hot, blinding lights. The overpowering joy and accomplishment she felt as the audience applauded after each show kept her going too.

At the end of it all when Bernard Blue came up to her and asked her to join them for another year, she politely declined though. She had lived out a dream, but in doing so realized that this is not what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. The idea of Queen's was calling her name even stronger than before.

Yawning, Casey stood up from the couch. She needed to get to sleep. Her classes started tomorrow.

Getting up to turn off the light in her living room, a round of knocks rocked her door, interrupting her. Arching her eyebrows in confusion, Casey quietly padded over to her door, half wondering what kind of crazy person would be knocking at this time of night.

Cautiously, she opened her door and her stomach clenched at who she saw.

"Derek?" she asked puzzled, partly because she couldn't believe he was there and partly because he didn't look like the guy she last saw a year ago.

His hair – though still cut short – was a lot curlier and back to its natural hue. He was now sporting some major stubble, almost long enough to be considered a beard. She even vaguely noticed that his body had seemed to have gotten more muscular by the way his shirt clung to his chest a little more tightly.

"In the flesh," he slurred, breaking Casey out of her observations.

She rolled her eyes. "Derek, are you _drunk_?" If the slurred speech didn't give him away, then his glazed eyes and stank breath confirmed it for her before he could.

"You're still _so_ smart," he said overly happy, tapping her on her forehead giddily with his index finger.

"What are you doing here?" she hastily asked, swatting away his hand.

Derek smirked, but due to his inebriation it was a bit off. "Here to see my favorite stepsister, of course!"

Casey snorted, crossing her arms defensively. "Derek," she expressed tiredly, "go to your dorm."

"Can't. Lost my keys," Derek admitted, laughing.

"What about your roommate?" Casey suggested. "Can't you call him or something?

"Sleeps like a log!" he hollered dramatically, before mimicking the sound of his roommate snoring.

"Derek!" Casey harshly whispered. "Quiet down." It was 2am. All she needed was for her neighbors to complain. "Are you here because you need somewhere to sleep?" she asked, peeved. Derek's face sobered slightly as he nodded eagerly. Casey sighed. "Fine," she gave in, defeated.

She stepped to the side to let Derek enter. "You can take the couch," Casey said, gesturing to the piece of furniture she had just been occupying before he showed up.

Derek nodded as he made his way over to it.

Casey quickly went to the closet in her bedroom to retrieve a pillow and blanket for him to use. When she returned, Derek gave her a weak smile as he took the items.

"Thanks," he said sleepily, snuggling his face against the pillow. Casey conducted now that he must have been plastered if he was being polite, let alone to her.

Casey then fetched a water bottle and aspirin to put on the coffee table, so that when he woke up he could easily tend to the hangover he was surely going to have. She also provided him with a small waste basket in case he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't make it to the bathroom.

Casey shook her head. She definitely did not expected this to be their first encounter after not seeing each other for a year. But when did anything ever go the way she wanted to when it involved Derek? He was always nothing more than an irresponsible jerk, but she always felt obligated to take care of him.

Making sure Derek was laying on his side and everything he would need was in place, Casey decided that this was all she could do for now. She walked over to the wall and flicked the light switch off, leaving only the moon's light to illuminate the room with a bluish hue.

Halfway to her bedroom, Derek spoke. "Case," he rasped out.

Casey immediately jumped, startled from his voice since she presumed he was asleep. "Yes, Derek," she answered, retracing her steps back to his side.

She could hear him exhale very slowly out of his nose before uttering. "I missed you."

Casey's heart fumbled over its next beat. A lump formed in her throat and her eyes began to sting.

_It was dinner time and everyone was gathered around the table as usual. But Casey's stomach was twirling and twisting horribly with nerves. She had made her decision – that being whether she was going to go to Queen's or go to New York to dance._

_Clearing her throat, Casey bulked up enough courage to ask for everyone's attention. "I have an announcement."_

_Everyone's eyes quickly diverted from their plates to Casey, causing her heart to race with even more nerves. "What is it, dear?" she heard her mother ask._

_Casey looked at her mother, smiling. She tried her best to swallow down her fear and doubt as she jubilantly declared, "I'm decided where I'm going this fall."_

_All sound in the dining room seemed to come to a halt. And although everyone was already looking at her, it felt as if double the set of eyes were watching her now. Derek's gaze felt particularly piercing, never wavering, but she refused to look at him. Instead she glanced briefly at everyone else._

_Casey took a deep breath_ _._ _"I'm going to New York!" she exclaimed, smiling wide._

_Chatter immediately erupted from all sides of the table. George and Nora were sending their supportive regards. Marti and Lizzie were telling her how much they were going to miss her, while Edwin tried talking to her about the stock market and Wall Street. It was only then that she dared to look at Derek – the oddly silent member at the table – but immediately wished she hadn't. He looked up at her from under his unruly, dark curls with the emptiest eyes she has ever seen. However, when he detected her gaze, he instantly ducked his head down and stared down at his plate._

_The soon-to-be broadway dancer immediately felt terrible, and guilt clawed at her from the inside. She knew Derek would take this news the hardest – they had become so close over the summer._ _But Casey had to remind herself that she needed this. For as many reasons Derek made her want to stay, he was also the many reasons why she needed to go._

" _Can I be excused?" Derek abruptly asked George, breaking into all the congratulations and praises Casey was receiving. "I just remembered that Sam and Ralph wanted to hang out."_

_George looked at Nora dumbly, unsure on what to do. "Well, do you need to leave now? Casey just announced that she's leaving." Casey saw Derek flinch. It was minuscule, but she noticed it. And from the worried gaze Lizzie was giving Derek, she saw it too. "But if you really want to go…"_

_That's all it took for Derek as he walked out the front door._

Breaking herself from her thoughts, she opened her mouth to say something, but soon realized Derek had fallen asleep, for real this time. So reluctantly, Casey went to bed, figuring that she could always talk to him tomorrow.

However, by the time Casey woke up the next morning, Derek was gone. The indented pillow and thrown blanket he used were the only indications that he was ever there to begin with


	3. Chapter 2

Derek woke up that morning with the biggest headache throbbing against his skull, pulsating like someone was driving nails into his head. He looked around the quaint living area and couldn’t recall it being any place he’s ever been to before. The last coherent thing he remembered the night prior was drinking at Michael’s – a bar right off campus. From then he only vaguely remembered an apartment door and a very blurry image that looked like Casey…

Cursing lightly under his breath, Derek couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. He couldn’t remember anything beyond Casey opening her door. He only hoped he hadn’t said something stupid.

This hadn’t exactly been the way Derek wanted their first face-to-face interaction to go. In the past year, he had this image in his head of what would happen when, or if, she decided to come back to Canada. She’d come back unannounced, knocking on his dorm door, throwing herself into his arms, begging him to forgive her for leaving in the first place. And although she _had_ come back unannounced, it had been _Derek_ knocking on her door, probably throwing himself on her as he tried to gain his balance.

Derek didn’t actually plan on getting drunk the night before. He was actually planning on starting a paper at the library, but then Lizzie called him, telling him that his other stepsister was currently on campus. He quickly decided it wouldn’t hurt to get a little buzzed. However, one beer turned into two beers, and somewhere around the 3rd or 4th shot he lost count on how much alcohol he had consumed.

His head radiated through another shockwave of pain, causing Derek to let out a small groan. He needed to take something for this, and fast.

Just as that thought flickered through his mind, he noticed the items laid out on the coffee table next to him – aspirin and water. His lips upturned at the sight, despite his conflicting feelings towards the woman who left them out.

He popped a few of the pills into his mouth and downed them with water. He looked around the apartment as best as he could in the dimly lit living area, wondering what time it was. He fished out his phone from his jean pocket as best he could in his lying position. _6:45am._

“Shit, shit, shit,” Derek mumbled, sitting up quickly and trying his best to ignore his headache when the sudden motion aggravated it once again. He had work. He was supposed to open the shop. If he didn’t leave now, he would definitely not make it on time.

Derek got up from the couch and quickly made his exit.

…

As Derek approached the building where he worked, he saw a faint figure of someone leaning against the unopened door. He groaned as he tried to quicken his pace. His boss would wring his neck if he found out that he had kept customers waiting.

However, as Derek reached closer and closer, he saw that the figure had distinct, curly, jet-black hair on his head. The hockey player instantly slowed back to his original pace, knowing he didn’t need to worry.

At the sound of his steps approaching, the curly headed kid turned around to face him. “You look like shit,” he said, ever so eloquently.

“Nice to see you too, Tom,” Derek mumbled as he fished the store’s keys out his leather jacket and opened up the door.

Derek quickly flicked on the lights and started getting the store up and running.

“So, why were you so late today?” Tom wondered aloud as he hopped over the counter to help Derek set everything up. “You’re usually here well before now. I thought James finally killed you.”

Derek shuddered at the mention of his roommate. “Not yet,” Derek mumbled.

Grabbing a key from his key-chain, Derek popped open the register to count the money to keep himself occupied.

“So?” Tom prompted.

Derek sighed. He really didn’t want to get into this, but Tom was like his Sam at Queen’s – he could trust him. “I kinda drank myself into oblivion last night.”

Tom rose a confused eyebrow. “Dude, you did _not_ forget to invite me to another party again, did you? Because, like I said-”

“No, no, no,” Derek cut in before his friend could go into another one of his famous diatribes about being left out just because he was married. “I found out that a certain someone was in town…”

Tom looked confused again. “Who?”

Letting out a huge breath of air, Derek replied, “Casey.”

Tom’s eyebrows immediately rose underneath the mass of his curls. “You mean…She’s the one that left for New York, right? The girl that you’re hung up on?”

“I’m not hung up on her,” he quickly insisted. Tom’s scoffed, but Derek chose to ignore it.

“So what is she doing here?” his friend asked, grabbing a rag to start wiping the counters.

“She’s a student at Queen’s now,” Derek replied while shutting the register drawer.

Tom gave him an odd look. “So, I might actually get to meet the girl that reduced Derek Venturi into a Bella Swan?”

“I am nothing like any of those weird, sparkling vampire people,” he spoke defensively, scrunching up his face in disgust at the comparison. “And you’re never gonna meet her if I have anything to do with it.”

“Aww, why not?” Tom asked, pouting. “It’s not like I’m going to hit on her. I mean, I _am_ married.”

“It’s not like that,” Derek said, shaking his head. Tom rolled his eyes, but decidedly dropped the subject as he walked to the other side of the store to wipe down the tables.

Derek let out another sigh, thinking back to his blue-eyed, klutzilla-proned stepsister. “I don’t even know if I want to see her,” he whispered.

…

_Casey was sitting on the couch reading – at least trying to – by the side-table lamp, waiting._

_It had been hours now. The clock in the dining area read close to midnight and Casey’s eyes were growing heavy. She had to know that Derek was okay though._

_Just then, two beams of light hit against the bay window behind the TV. She could clearly hear the loud purr of the Prince’s engine until Derek must have it shut off. A few seconds passed as silence rang through the air before the jangle of keys opening the front door was heard. Casey held her breath and sat up._

_“Casey?” Derek half-wondered as he opened up the door and hung up his leather jacket on the rack nearby. “What are you doing up?”_

_She placed her book on the coffee table and pulled her knees up to her chin. “I was waiting for you,” she admitted shyly. “You left so abruptly at dinner-”_

_“Like I said, I forgot the guys asked me over,” he said, shrugging it off. “Didn’t want to leave them hanging.”_

_Casey pursed her lips. She didn’t entirely believe him, but she wasn’t going to fight him tooth over nail on something he was obviously not comfortable talking about._

_“So how was Sam and Ralph?” she asked instead._

_“Good.” Derek nodded as he took a seat on his recliner. “They send their congrats.”_

_The conversation immediately stilted at the indirect mention of the elephant in the room._

_“So…” Derek began, taking in a huge breath of air a few moments later. “New York, eh?”_

_“Yeah,” Casey let out breathlessly, biting her lip and finding it hard to look Derek in the eye._

_“You excited?” he continued, his voice soft._

_Casey couldn’t help but let a smile surface across her face. “Very,” she admitted. “I mean, it’s New York and Broadway! Plus, I’ll be able to see my father everyday…”_

_She bravely looked over at Derek to see him wearing a small grin on his face. “That’s great, Case,” he told her sincerely. “So when are the fancy toes taking you away?”_

_Casey looked down at her interlaced hands, hating what she was going to say next. “Friday morning.”_

_“But,” Derek began, leaning forward in his seat. “but that’s the day after tomorrow! What- Why do you have to leave so soon? I don’t even have to leave for Queen’s for another two weeks!”_

_The younger woman sighed. “Rehearsals begin Monday. They want me already in town and as settled as possible.”_

_Derek abruptly stood up from his chair and began pacing the living room._

_“Derek,” she called out, staring after him worryingly. “What’s going on in your head?”_

_He let out a shaky laugh. “God, you don’t want to know,” he insisted softly, still walking around the area between the coffee table and TV restlessly._

_“Derek,” she said pointedly, getting up from the couch to stand in-front of him. She placed her hands on his forearms in an effort to still his frantic actions._

_His eyes flickered up to meet hers, and Casey felt a jolt spark through her chest at the suddenness of it. He then looked down at her hands, and went to take them in his own._

_“Derek,” she repeated slowly and warily._

_“Case, I-,” he started, but stopped, biting his lip and furrowing his brows in frustration. “I, uh, I don’t want you to go.”_

_She sighed. “I can’t take back my acceptance now, Derek,” Casey reminded him._

_“I know,” Derek replied tensely, refusing to meet her eyes, but instead focusing on their joint hands. “It’s just…” he trailed off, seemingly not knowing what to say, or at least how to say it._

_Casey tried to smile assuringly up at her stepbrother. “I’m going to miss you too, Derek. We’ve become good friends this summer-”_

_“No, that’s,” he cut in, squeezing her hands just a little more. “Casey, I-”_

“Can you pass the paper already?!”

Casey was jerked from her thoughts. She looked down to see a stack of papers sitting on her desk. She promptly took one and handed the rest to the impatient girl next to her. “Sorry,” Casey let out politely.

The girl took her own paper and passed it down. “It’s alright,” she said, looking Casey over with pursed lips. “Thinking about anything juicy?” she wondered, twirling a lock of her blonde-highlighted hair. “A boyfriend perhaps?”

Casey blushed.

The girl giggled, apparently elated by Casey’s response. “Sorry,” she apologized. “My friends tell me I tend to get really personal really quick. I’m Polly.”

“Casey,” she replied, sticking out her hand to shake her new, unique acquaintance’s hand.

“So, you okay? You were pretty zoned out,” Polly curiously wondered.

No, Casey wasn’t okay. Not only had she been estranged from Derek for a year, but last night her stepbrother showed up at her door, drunk, saying he missed her. Guilt ate away at her, reopening wounds that never healed in the first place. Then this morning, he wasn’t even there when she woke up, which only meant that he was still mad at her – mad enough to lose his precious sleep, which was huge!

“It’s nothing,” Casey replied, giving the girl a small, but tight smile. She wasn’t about to delve into her bizarrely complicated life with Derek to a complete stranger.

The newer girl studied Casey for a moment before facing the front of the room, where the professor was beginning to start his lecture. “Maybe all you need is a little coffee to get your mind focused. I know a good place, if you want to catch a cup after class.”

Casey was floored by the sudden invitation, but who was she to turn down a potential friendship? “Sure.”

…………

“So, yeah, there’s this little place on campus called Café Diem and they have the _best_ coffee around,” Polly said as they exited the lecture hall.

Casey nodded along, trying to keep up with the girl’s slightly longer strides.

“It’s also got a great selection of muffins, and doughnuts, and stuff,” Casey heard her say as she zoned back into what Polly was saying.

“How far away is it?” Casey felt herself asking.

“Oh,” Polly said, waving her hand in a careless manner, “we are like a minute away. It’s practically in the middle of the campus and takes no time to get to no matter where you’re coming from.”

“Convenient,” Casey simply commented as she watched the scenery around her. She hadn’t gotten a chance to explore the campus in depth since she’d moved in, so she was trying to soak in all the new places. She half-wondered if Derek was in any of the buildings around them.

“Oh, yeah. It’s also a great place to pick up dates. Not only are the employees total hotties, but the guys that hang out there are pretty good looking too.”

“Well, I’m here more so for the education,” Casey said, hoping her new acquaintance wasn’t one of those pushy, matchmaker types who would try and set her up.

“Did you just get out of relationship?” Polly asked, showing a faint sense of sympathy.

Casey thought back to Jesse, who she had dated almost the entire duration of her stay in New York. “Kind of,” she answered warily, “but I wasn’t, like, in love with the guy.” And therein had lied the problem.

Polly giggled. “No one is asking you to fall in love with one of the cute coffee guys. Just to have a little fun,” she said shrugging. “Sex is a great stress reliever.”

Casey gave a strained smile towards her companion, all the while wondering how she could shake the girl off politely somehow. Polly was soon becoming a little too bold and blunt for Casey’s comfort.

“Here we are!” Polly exclaimed, waving her hands in the air towards the store like she was displaying a prize on a game show.

The two girls entered the café shop. Polly immediately ushered Casey to a certain booth towards the middle of the room.

“They come up and serve you,” she explained as she picked up a menu from the middle of the table to glance at it.

Casey already knew what she wanted, just a plain coffee with regular cream and sugar. Or, on second thought, maybe she’d try their french vanilla flavoring. It’s been a little while since she had that. Smelly Nelly’s always had a great blend that went well with the French vanilla, but the coffee shops in New York could never satisfy her tastebuds.

Looking around at the store as her classmate studied the menu, Casey thought the place actually resembled Smelly Nelly’s a lot. Maybe it was an omen for good coffee.

“Are we ready to order yet, ladies?”

Casey’s head turned at the voice to only stare into a pair of very familiar brown eyes. “Derek?”


	4. Chapter 3

The pair stared at each other for a moment. Casey could tell that Derek's eyes were slightly panicked. He obviously hadn't approached her knowingly.

Eventually, Casey found her voice. "What – what are you doing here?" she asked her stepbrother.

Derek lightly shook his head from whatever thoughts he was having. "I work here," he replied awkwardly, holding up his ordering pad to further emphasize the fact.

Casey wanted to slap herself, because, duh! Instead, Casey nodded her head. "That's good," she politely added. Derek nodded along, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily.

Not wanting to prolong the awkward agony, Casey quickly rushed her order. Luckily, Polly seemed to understand something was off, for she ordered very quickly too, and soon Derek was out of sight once again.

Casey let out a breath of air – happy to have gotten that encounter over and done with – and looked towards Polly who was staring her down with wide curious eyes. "What?" Casey questioned.

Polly quirked her eyebrow. "What. The hell. Was that?" she asked, her tone clipped humorously.

Casey unraveled her napkin, busying herself with it. "I don't know what you mean. I was just ordering."

Polly continued to stare at her, now more doubtfully. "How did you know that cute waiter guy? It was like you were both walking over hot coals talking to each other."

Casey stayed silent, hoping Polly would drop it.

"Was he the ex you just broke up with?" she guessed.

Casey groaned. "No, Derek is not an ex-boyfriend. He's just someone I know that I wasn't expecting to see here," she replied back defensively.

"Ooh," Polly crooned with a twinkle in her eyes, "he was a one-night stand, wasn't he?"'

"NO!" Casey immediately hollered, causing a few heads to turn at the outburst. Casey's whole face turned red from the accusation and the unwanted attention, and now all she wanted to do was melt into a puddle on the floor. "Nothing like that," she hushed to her companion.

"That makes sense," Polly said, shrugging. "You couldn't have boned and still have that much sexual tension too."

Casey's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Wha? Wha?" she sputtered out. "That's – there isn't -"

"Oh, please," Polly said with a giggle. "Denial does not help it."

Casey's heart was beating erratically and she suddenly felt very faint. Not to mention, images of Derek and her doing anything remotely close to having sex kept flashing across her mind. Not good. Not good at all.

…

Derek quickly scurried to the back, maybe bumping into a few chairs on the way. He'd like to say that no one had the power to make him, dare he admit it, flustered, but here was Casey, out of the blue, once again, doing just that. He wanted another drink.

"Whoa," Tom said once Derek reached the back. "You don't look so good."

"I thought we already covered it earlier that I looked like crap," Derek quipped, as he grabbed two coffee mugs and went to add the necessary coffee, cream and sugar for each cup

"No, man, you look like you just saw a ghost," Tom pointed out. "You're as white as Casper - though not as friendly."

Derek picked up the drinks to walk them over to Casey's table, but stopped when he noticed his hands shaking, making the hot beverages swirl around hazardously and spill over the rim. "Shit," Derek cursed lightly. He perched his hands against the counter, ducking his head down as he exhaled. He couldn't do this. Not now.

"Can you take these drinks to table 15?" Derek asked, his back still to his friend and co-worker.

Despite being concerned for Derek, Tom scoffed. "That's your table, D."

" _Please_ ," Derek let out beseechingly. He craned his head to look back at Tom. "You can have the tips. Just please."

"Fine," Tom gave in, taking the two cups and walking into the direction of table 15. He was always a bit of a pushover, or at least that's what his wife always claimed.

…

"Here are your coffees, ladies," a voice exclaimed with a broad smile as they placed each on the table. "Can I get you anything else?"

Both of the girls looked up at him confusingly. "Where is our original waiter," Polly started but paused to read his name tag, "Tom?" she inquired.

"I'm sorry, but your original waiter is feeling a bit under the weather at the moment," he replied. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you," Casey spoke up quietly, shaking her head.

The waiter looked over at her, his eyes widening suddenly before flashing her a polite smile and bidding them goodbye.

"Way to ruin my chances at flirting with the new waiter," Polly joked, sipping her drink.

"Sorry," Casey apologized half-heartedly.

"He had a nice mountains of curls. Makes me think what else could be curly, if you know what I mean?" Polly continued, winking at Casey. Casey scrunched her nose up in disgust. Polly chuckled, enjoying how the comment made Casey uncomfortable. "You're too easy."

"Derek used to tell me that all the time," Casey quietly confessed before taking a tentative sip of her coffee.

"Well, he was right," Polly stated after a moment of silence. "I wish he wasn't feeling unwell, or I'd tell him to his face."

Casey shook her head, her eyes glistening. "He's not sick, unless he's already sick of the sight of me," Casey said miserably. "He's avoiding me."

Polly clicked her tongue. "If I were you, I wouldn't let myself be avoided."

…

"Dude," Tom said, rushing into the back area and shoving Derek in the shoulder.

Derek stumbled from the shove and fixed his friend with a glare. "What the hell?"

"You have Casey, _the_ Casey, out there," Tom said, pointing out in the general direction she was in, "and you have _me_ go out there and wait on her?!" he asked outrageously.

"How do you even know what Casey looks like?" Derek inquired. "I never showed you what she looked like."

Tom rolled his eyes. "One look on your computer is enough. She's your background picture for Christ's sake!"

"You're Jewish," Derek chimed in.

"That's besides the point!" Tom argued, throwing his hands up. "The girl that got away is right under your nose and you're back here, hiding!"

Derek clenched his jaw. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Tom let out an empty laugh. "Then will you finally enlighten me? All I know about this 'mysterious' Casey is that she had an opportunity to go to New York and she took it, and you've been butt-hurt over it ever since."

The hockey player growled as he took a threatening step towards his friend. "You weren't there."

"No," Tom conceded, "but, D, she's been thrown back into your life. She showed up here of all places today not knowing you worked here. I think the universe is trying to tell you something," he stated, giving Derek a knowing look.

Derek scoffed. "You listen to your wife too much." He went to walk away and tend to the people at the front counter.

"Come on," Tom implored, grabbing his friend's shoulders and spinning him around. "We're in Café Diem!"

"So...?" Derek let out confusingly.

"Because the café is a play on words of carpe diem…" Tom added, trying to lead Derek to what he was trying to say.

"Yeah…" Derek said, scratching the side of his face. "I wasn't too great in Spanish, so you're going to have to spell this out for me."

Tom sighed. "It's _Latin_ , and the phrase means, 'seize the day'! So take one more try! Talk to her!"

Derek sighed in frustration. "Fine!" he gave in, pushing passed Tom to walk over to Casey's table. However, halfway to his destination, he noticed Casey's seat was empty. His heart fell heavy with disappointment, despite not wanting to face her just yet.

"Derek?" a feminine voice called out from behind him; a voice that he knew all too well. Anxiety built up and tightened his chest.

He turned around, gulping. Jeez, she looked even more amazing close up – eye to eye. "Yeah?" he managed.

"You done avoiding me? Or were you on your way out?" she asked bitingly.

Derek shook his head, his eyes becoming hard. "I wasn't avoiding you," he answered tightly. "I was busy in the back."

"That's not what your co-worker told us," Casey pointed out, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

"I can't control what he says," Derek defended himself. "And why should it matter anyway. I'm sure you were elated at the thought of not having to see me again."

Casey's whole demeanor softened. "You have to know that's not true…" she let out gently. Casey uncrossed her arms as she let them nervously hang by her sides. "I…I haven't seen you in over a year-"

"Yeah, and who's faults that?" Derek interjected, his tone clipped with something hostile.

Casey's jaw went slack. She knew he had every right to be mad at her, but it still hurt to hear him figuratively twisting the knife she stabbed herself with.

"Fuck, you didn't even tell me you were back in Canada, let alone on campus."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, making sure she looked at Derek with all the sincerity she could muster.

Derek shook his head. "Just leave, Casey," he told her. "I can't deal with this right now."

…

" _Case, I-," he started, but stopped, biting his lip and furrowing his brows in frustration. "I, uh, I don't want you to go."_

_She sighed. "I can't take back my acceptance now, Derek," Casey reminded him._

" _I know," Derek replied tensely, refusing to meet her eyes, but instead focusing on their joint hands. "It's just…" he trailed off, seemingly not knowing what to say, or at least how to say it._

_Casey tried to smile assuringly up at her stepbrother. "I'm going to miss you too, Derek. We've become good friends this summer-"_

" _No, that's," he cut in, squeezing her hands just a little more. "Casey, I- I - I love you…"_

_Casey gasped softly, feeling like the something just vacuumed out all her air to breath. She stepped away from his touch, letting his hands fall to his sides. She turned away from him, silently berating him for telling her this now._

" _Case," he spoke up quietly, reaching out to lay a soft hand on her shoulder._

_The eldest McDonald felt like she was on fire with every nerve-ending so hyper-aware and her heart jackhammering inside her chest. "I know," she let out brokenly._

" _Know what?" he asked curiously. "Case, look at me."_

_Casey bit her lip, turning around. "I knew…I heard you talking to Lizzie the other night…"_

_Derek paled, gulping nervously under her gaze. "Oh…"_

" _You're confused, Derek," she stated. "We've been hanging out all summer, and you're just confused. And because you're confused, I'm getting confused," Casey tried to explain. "You don't actually love me."_

_Derek shook his head furiously. "No, no, I'm not confused, Case," he said, stepping back into her personal bubble, getting into your face, looking at her as if he was trying to find something hidden beneath somewhere._

" _Derek," she choked out, trying to keep herself from crying. "You are. That's why we need this space between us," she admitted. "This is why I need to go to New York."_

_She watched as Derek's face fell. "You made your decision to go_ because _of how I felt about you," he concluded, anger starting to seep its way into his tone as he tried to weakly laugh it off. "Didn't you?!"_

_Casey looked down shamefully, unable to say anything that would stop him from hurting. She never wanted to hurt him._

_Her stepbrother scoffed unbelievably. "And people say_ I'm _the heartless one…" he spoke, his voice thick with emotion. His words struck her like a slap to the face. "Have a nice life in New York," he said bitterly before stalking up the stairs, and essentially out of her life._

…

By the time she got back to her apartment, Casey's vision was blurred by traitorous tears that were adamant to fall no matter how much she willed them not to.

She hastily took out her apartment key. If she was going to cry, she'd rather do it privately. However, the door wouldn't budge open. Casey checked to make sure she was using the right key. She was.

The distressed freshman let out a half sigh, half sob as she kicked the useless door. This day was only getting worse it seemed.

"Try wiggling the nob as you're turning the key," a voice said.

"What?" Casey croaked out, turning around to face the voice.

The voice wound up belonging to a tall, lanky guy. He had a slightly lighter shade of hair as Derek, but it was longer and almost came down to his eyes. He sported thick, rectangular-rimmed glasses and it looked like he carried himself a bit unsurely.

"Hi," he let out nervously, obviously noticing her state of distress. "I was just saying that you should try wiggling the nob as you turn the key."

Casey did as the stranger instructed, and low and behold the door opened. "Thank you," Casey let out appreciatively.

"No problem," he assured her. "I'm Lucas," he added, gesturing out his hand.

Casey took his hand and shook it politely, smiling at him as best as she could. "I'm Casey," she said, introducing herself. "Do you live here?"

"Just three doors down," Lucas commented, pointing to the right side of the hallway. "For some reason the nobs they use in this place can be a bit faulty at times. But the wiggle usually fixes it."

Casey nodded. She'd have to remember that in case it happened again. "Are you a student at Queen's too?" she asked conversationally, knowing a lot of the occupants were students since the complex was so close to the school.

"I am," he answered. "I'm a senior, majoring in Physics. What year are you? Let me guess: A sophomore?"

Casey laughed lightly, surprising herself. "I would have, but I took a year off to dance in New York."

Lucas's eyes bulged a bit at the new information. "Really? Wow, that's really impressive. Are you a drama major then?"

Casey shook her head good-naturedly. "Actually I'm doubling in English and Economics."

Lucas eyed her for a moment. "You were valedictorian of your senior class in high school, weren't you?" he wondered with a small grin.

Casey scrunched up her nose. "Is it that obvious?"

He laughed. "Usually double majors are overachievers and a lot of overachievers tend to be valedictorians," Lucas shared. "You have an eidetic memory too?" he joked.

"No, I just work really hard," Casey answered, grinning. He smiled back at her.

"I don't want to pry or anything, but are you alright?" Lucas suddenly asked, frowning slightly in worry. "You were crying earlier."

"Yeah," she admitted quietly, her mood growing somber again. "I just got into a fight with my stepbrother."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he expressed sincerely. "But just know if you ever need anything, I'm right down the hall," he offered kindly. "And welcome to the building!"

She smiled softly at him. "Thanks."

Lucas gave her one last nervous smile before he disappeared into his place. Casey entered her own apartment, smiling faintly to herself. At least something good happened today.


End file.
